Object amount detection device

Abstract

An object amount detection device includes a container configured to contain a solidifiable liquid object, an electrode extending in a vertical direction in the container, and configured to allow for detection of a change in capacitance accompanying a positional change in the vertical direction of a liquid surface of the object or an exterior surface of the object having been solidified, and a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in a memory to detect continuously or intermittently, based on the capacitance of the electrode, a position of the liquid surface or the exterior surface of the object in the container, to obtain a permittivity of the object from the capacitance of the electrode, and to determine a state of the object based on the obtained permittivity.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.